Asiatic Lilies

Chapter Six: I Don't Know!

I press the start button, watching the screen load before jumping slightly as it starts working, showing a chatroom. At the top it says the names of the people in the chat. Jumin Han, ZEN, 707, Yoosung, Jaehee Kang, V, and me...

I watch as they talk casually. Midterms... company... college... one guy's book... etc... I jump slightly in surprise as one of them, 707, finally notices me. I look at his profile picture curiously. His hair is red, with his eyes closed and glasses. I watch them scramble curiously. I inhale slowly, and as they question if someone downloaded the app twice, my fingers click across the screen.

[Y/N]: Hello?

I smile slightly as they freak out, they're kinda cute! I can't help but smile at them, they're pretty adorable, this game seems fun! I watch as they flip out about me being a hacker, and I get to learn that 707's the hacker of this game. I watch calmly as they work through things.

I learned a lot from Rika about how to deal with them, though I must admit her being in the game feels quite odd, though I don't bother questioning it too much. I mention her, along with her telling me to host a party. I lean back, watching them. I sigh softly, slightly annoyed at this, since Rika told me all about it and how to get through it and get to the main part of the game.

These characters don't seem to be all too difficult to figure out, at least on a surface level, though I must admit, I'm curious about them on a deeper level. I guess that's the beauty of this game!

It seems to me that Jumin Han is noticeably rich, and seems quite emotionless, as well as cat-obsessed.

Zen, though I'm not sure why his name is all in caps, is an actor who is very aware of his beauty.

707, or Seven or Luciel, is the hacker, he's quite odd, cracking jokes and seeming too vibrant to be true.

Yoosung, the youngest, plays a game called LOLOL and seems to be enamoured by 'Rika', and was the most excited to think I was sent by Rika.

Jaehee, the overworked assistant, was the most suspicious of me, though she seems generally nice.

V feels the most suspicious to me, and learning that he was in an intimate relationship with 'Rika' made me feel a bit annoyed, though I'm not entirely certain why... he's almost certainty hiding something.

I hum softly, tilting my head curiously at the screen before standing and grabbing six notebooks, happily color-coding them. Jumin's is blue, Zen's is grey, Seven's is red, Yoosung's is green, Jaehee's is yellow, and V's a minty green-blue! I neatly start copying down what I know, hunting back through the chat. I take notes of age, full name, where they are or where they work, major secrets, and even quotes that are more about telling me who they are.

Soft chuckling snaps me out of my note-taking. I glance up, finding Rika standing by the door. She gives a warm smile to me, walking toward me and sitting down next to me. She picks on one of the notebooks, the one with 'V' printed on the front in a thick black marker. She flips through the pages, and she sniffles, her eyes tearing up slightly.

"Are you okay?" I ask softly, gently grabbing her arm in concern. She shuts it with a crisp snap,

"I'm sorry. It just brings back a few painful memories. This game was created so that we could show people the eternal paradise here in Magenta... that's why I'm included. But I also wanted people to know the real me and be drawn here through that. But it's still hard," she whispers, and I give her a sad smile, pulling her into a hug.

"It's okay. I'll do really well to make sure that everyone understands how amazing this paradise you built is." I tell her fiercely, "You're our Savior. We all trust you to deliver us to paradise, and I know you will," I add, resting my cheek on her shoulder. To my surprise, her shoulders shiver as she lets out a strangled sob. I pull back, my eyes widened in shock.

"I don't know if I can!" she suddenly shouts, desperately wiping at her tears. I tilt my head in shock, "I don't know if I can deliver you to paradise... I don't know if I'm capable, I don't know! I don't know! I don't know!! I don't know!!! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW!! I DON'T KNOW!!!!" she shrieks, chanting 'I don't know' over and over again. I grip her shoulders tightly,

"Stop!" I shout at her, my hands grabbing her cheeks tightly. "Stop doubting yourself! You are amazing. And this is already really close to paradise... it definitely is to me. Being here with you makes me really happy! So calm down, and just relax here with me, okay? I want to chat with you. Because you're my friend, and I trust you," I tell her, her glittering crystal green eyes focused on mine. She sniffles, and wipes away her tears, no longer crying as she smiles.

"You're right. I am the Savior. And I will make this place a paradise; for you and everyone else in Mint Eye," she says, determination sparkling in her features. She hugs me tightly. "Thanks."